Liquid filling machines are commonly used to fill containers, bottles and gable top cartons with a liquid or other fluid substance, such is as used in the beverage industry for filling bottles with, for example, milk, juice, soda, flavored and unflavored waters, and the like. With increasing product demands by consumers, beverage packagers have been seeking ways to increase the production line speed or rate at which the liquid filling machine can fill one container, index the container, and be ready to fill the next container. Some single-line liquid filling machines now run at rates, for 1 liter sized containers, approaching or exceeding about 150 containers per minute. The desire for faster line speeds has been an ongoing concern of many beverage packagers.
Typical liquid filling machines include a vertically positioned tubular filling nozzle and at least one perforated plate at the exit end of the nozzle, which the liquid passes through just prior to entering into the container. Messiness, spillage, and waste can occur if the liquid continues to flow through the perforated plate of the nozzle while one container is being moved from beneath the nozzle and an empty container is being moved into position below the nozzle. Some nozzles utilize the surface tension of the liquid at uniformly sized apertures in the perforated plate to assist in cessation of this unintended liquid flow.